Myers has another fun tidbit. Sometimes the Jets’ biggest draft failures are the near-misses.
Remember how close Favre came to being a Jet in 1991: They had him rated as their No. 1 player in the draft, but didn’t have a first-round pick. They desperately tried to move up to get him as he fell toward the second round. Late GM Dick Steinberg thought he had a deal with the Cardinals. The Cards were picking No. 32, the Falcons No. 33 and the Jets No. 34. Even though Atlanta passed on him with their two first-round picks, Steinberg knew the Falcons were trying to trade up to get him. It was a no-lose deal for the Cards if they swapped with the Jets: They would still get DE Mike Jones because the Falcons would have taken Browning Nagle if the Jets got Favre. Instead, the Cards changed their minds and the Falcons took Favre, the Cardinals took Jones and the Jets took Nagle.
Steinberg never understood why the Cardinals got cold feet. “At the last minute, they just backed out,” he once said. After one season, the Falcons gave up on Favre and traded him to the Packers.
Sigh.
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